Ana-digi-logic: The bookBot
UX & UI Design, Information Systems
In our spring studio 2018 we explored media and materials under the rubric of user experience. We were asked to utilize two-, three-, and four-dimensional media following specific prompts and develop the outcomes toward an integrated combination of works in all dimensions to engage and inform participants in community oriented spaces of learning. The locus for the information design is Hunt Library, Robot Alley, specifically the BookBot.
What is the bookBot?
The ground floor lobby, Robot Alley, home of the bookBot is a transient meeting space, a connective hub that serves as the first entry point for many visitors of Hunt Library. The lobby serves as a starting point for visitor tours, a space to experience the Book Bot, a waiting area for students in between classes, and an information hub.
Problem
Though the use of monitors and touch screens are reflective of Hunt’s forward-thinking mission, their size, positioning, and interactive limitations do not make them the most effective means for conveying information given the particular architectural constraints of the lobby itself leading to poor visual communication strategies.
Project Intentions
To transform the lobby into an activated, experiential, transient space that gives form to student and faculty needs as well as its own needs: to showcase and to provide an experience for its core purpose: the bookBot.
- Explain how the bookBot works and give it some awareness.
- Explore what "The Library of the Future" means in comparison to traditional notions of what a library is: from traditional browsing stacks to automated book retrieval systems.
- Provide a "choose your own adventure" informative experience.
- Disseminate large amounts of information through appropriate information touch points.
Process
- Create a one minute video that explores the space's form, materiality, and essence
- Construct a project brief draft
- Consider private, semi-public, and public experience of information
- Ideate and Iterate typographic form in 2D and 3D
- Observe information design at the Museum of Life and Science in Raleigh, NC
- Reflect on museum, observations, and implications for our project
- Refine project brief draft
- Create a detailed user journey map
- Conduct an "I wish" + Armando Critique
Final Concept Video
1st time visitor of Hunt who has heard about the bookBot and the majesty of Hunt's design. They enter on the ground level by Common Grounds cafe and the bookBot. The video shows their movement throughout the space. It pauses at various information touch points.
Information Touch Points
- Information Wall (public, analogue)
- Pamphlet and table touch screen (semi-public, digital, analogue)
- 3x3 call cards (private, analogue)
- Virtual Library—large scale touch screen (semi-public/public, digital)
Digital Browsing
Once the user walks through the space they come upon a digital touchscreen that allows them to "browse" through the books in the bot. If you notice, the sort of randomization from browsing does not come by subject matter, but rather by size. What kind of surprises would this bring about when searching for books?
